Goriel and beyond, part 6

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Graybeard
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 6

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[OOC: To clarify one thing: Marge Vatnikov isn't Therese's grandmother in the literal, biological sense. In fact Therese has no idea who her ancestors are, even her parents (check her character concept). However, the relationship between them is so close and affectionate that both consider the relationship to be like that of grandmother and granddaughter, and that not in Gorielian terms, but as it exists in the culture that Lady Vatnikov grew up in. (It should come as no surprise that she's not originally from Goriel.) So we'll let them go off and talk about matters of the heart while Rose gets her turn...]

"For someone who's already magically adept, telepathy shouldn't be difficult," Sister Rose told TIm. "You form the thought in your mind, just as when you're verbalizing." A brief chuckle. "Or let it flow in a stream-of-consciousness way. You don't have to have orderly thought processes for it to work, Luminosita knows. Anyway, instead of using your physical energy to force the thought out through your breath and muscles as speech, you gather and focus magic to send it to the recipient." She switched to mind-speech herself; the recipient didn't have to be adept at it to receive. <"Like this. Now try sending me something.">

Tim was a good enough student; a few exchanges later, communication had been established, and Rose began to receive what Tim was sending telepathically about Eli. She mind-spoke the indicated encouraging noises as he described the way their interaction had gone -- but at the same time, she was having some thoughts that she didn't transmit. He's holding something back. That's clear, I don't need magical Empathy to sense it. Just what did pass between him and Eli out there?

There was no time to probe further, however, as Rose could see the airship returning from its refueling; they'd only have a few minutes more for the lesson, and then it would be time for those who were boarding the ship to do so ... and for those remaining behind to take their leave. [OOC: Consider this an invitation to move, as soon as Argus and Tamina are done, to the "parting scene," although I'm still curious what Drusia is doing all this time.]
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Drusia
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 6

Post by Drusia »

"Desiree," he said. "I don't know what's going to happen with Eli, but when I saw him the other night I promised I'd deliver you a message. He wanted to say his biggest regret since leaving home was hurting your feelings, and he'd take it back if he could - and the other part I think you know, that he thinks he's doing all this to fix it so your people don't have to live in isolation."

"The only good sign is, it means there's some kind of good left in him. They're corrupting him using his nobler aims."
"If someone can get him away from this corrupting Ralkin magic. He didn't say anything about coming to look for you again, but the way he talked, he was in real agony about it - and sometime I think he might."


Eli was here?! Why does no one tell me these things. And... he regrets what he did? That's good. But... fixing things so that half-elves don't have to live in isolation? How? The only way the Elves will stop hunting us is if we're all dead, or...

... or they are? Oh, Eli, exactly how crazy have you gone?

I shake my head, blinking tears. A good sign, Tim calls it. Maybe. But... the part about him coming to look for me doesn't sound very reassuring. I nod at Tim, acknowledging him, trying not to give offense. I'm too numb right now to respond like a civil person.

Eventually he leaves. Anfisa and I are alone, finally, without anything exploding or attacking or flying about. I sigh. This isn't going to be easy.

"When I said staying with me would be dangerous, I wasn't even thinking of Eli," I tell her. "He's one of my lovers - he was, anyway, until he started murdering people. Criminals at first. Then... others. Innocents." The Inn he burned down, another thing I didn't learn until after the fact.

"As for the rest..." I sigh. "There was so much I couldn't say in the Zenana. I didn't want to put you at risk if they discovered I was there as a spy. And a lot of it is complicated. Like... my mother, Drusia. She's an elf. She's two thousand years old. I'm a half-elf - I'm thirty two years old. I've never met my father*, but he was human, some man my mother took a liking to during her travels."

There, that's a start. I'll let her react to this before I move on to the rest of it.

-- Desiree

OOC: * Drusia hasn't taken the time to mention to Desiree that Arman is her father yet.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 6

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"Now, do you want to try again? If your magic passes through touch, perhaps you should start by putting your hands on the ground?"

Tamina managed a smile at Argus' encouragement and tried his suggestion. The kobold put the palms of both her hands on the earth and channeled again.

Killikah magic did encompass several actions for infusing things with energy, but using matter as a conduit to affect something else was something she'd never tried before. She felt the mana from her hands pouring into the soil underneath them. The small patch of ground churned like shifting sands, an errant seed which had found it's way into the earth sprang to life and started to bloom. Tamina began muttering to herself in her native tounge.

"<Push away from it. Look at your goal. Get there!>"

She focused on the pile of stones some five feet from where she sat, willing the energy towards them. At first nothing happened, her body simply wouldn't co-operate, but as her head emptied of thoughts and her words feel silent, she began to feel a change.

It was small. Barely noticable to someone who wasn't watching the scene closely, but a patch of soil about six inches away from the humanoid's digits shifted subtlely, as if a tiny gust of wind had blown across it. The movement was accompanied by a brief, but perculiar, sensation of her magic being an independant part of her body, like a worm crawling forward under the earth. The shock of the feeing caused her to cease momentarily with a squeak of surprise, followed by a happier squeak as she realized what she'd done.

"Did it!" She exclaimed, beaming suddenly at the man opposite her. "Yay!" She added.

OOC I'm ok with skipping to the parting scene if everyone else is. We can infer from a couple of hours practise that argus and the kobold had enough time to exchange a few details (something to practise on, at least). We can always continue it if Tamina returns to the group later on./OOC
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 6

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Argus nodded. "See? I knew you had it in you." He smiled.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 6

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OOC: OK, let's let it be so. I was going to write a parting scene, but it seems unnecessary; the only character going on the Ralkin hunt who has any strong ties to the bunch staying with the airship is Drusia. (Want to write a mother/daughter thing, D? That's really all I can think of that might need doing, and it's your call whether to do that.)

So how are we going to do this from a functional perspective? Spin off a new thread for the Ralkin hunt, maybe? Once that is resolved, things can start to happen again on the airship and wherever it's going. Incidentally, note that Marge Vatnikov would NOT put the transportation system, the one that Brad and Lillith just used to head for Santuariel, to work supporting the Ralkin hunt; Udo, Tamina and Drusia will have to find some other way to get around. Well, there's always the wagon ...
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 6

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC A new thread would probably work best since the story's splitting. Anyone know the way to the Southern continent from here?/OOC
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 6

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"When I said staying with me would be dangerous, I wasn't even thinking of Eli. He's one of my lovers - he was, anyway, until he started murdering people. Criminals at first. Then... others. Innocents. As for the rest...there was so much I couldn't say in the zenana. I didn't want to put you at risk if they discovered I was there as a spy. And a lot of it is complicated. Like... my mother, Drusia. She's an elf. She's two thousand years old. I'm a half-elf - I'm thirty two years old. I've never met my father, but he was human, some man my mother took a liking to during her travels."

Strangely enough, this kind of talk seemed to bring Anfisa back closer to her usual self. "I think Valentina was like that," she said, "good birth as they went but not knowing who her father was, so it was kind of a compromise, they wouldn't consider her for marriage and it went badly for her mother, but the man came forward later and he was pretty well born, she still wasn't marriageable but they gave her a second look for getera..." And thinking of Valentina naturally made her think of massage, so she got behind Desiree and started rubbing her shoulders. "How do the elves keep their skin looking so smooth after two thousand years? I had an aunt who swore by milk and honey rubs, and there was a merchant who used to sell a cream he said was made from pearls, old Ilya's wife used to use it, but you could see it was just paint from twenty feet off. Only you couldn't talk about the wives like that. Irina had a traditional recipe..."

While she talked she adjusted to the news, none of which really bothered her. She'd spent her whole life around dangerous men who killed and committed cruelties for obscure reasons that didn't concern her, and spying was dangerous but also common. It gave the chiefs the excuse for the occasional horrific execution to remind everyone that they were best untrifled-with. And whatever a "half-elf" was, they were beautiful and you could fall in love with them, and what else did she need to know?

[OOC: I think the thread's kinda short to break here. It's titled "Goriel and beyond," anyway. If the Drusia/Udo/Tamina adventure would be too distracting it can get its own new thread. Neither Udo nor Tim has anything dramatic to say about which groups they're going with, both of which are obvious.]
Last edited by Alberich on August 30th, 2012, 11:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 6

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[OOC: OK, so transact the Ralkin crew however you see fit. As for the others:]

"Where are we going?" Therese asked Sister Rose as soon as they were airborne, although not without pausing to consider the irony of that question. She'd heard it asked by practically all of the women she'd rescued, never imagining that she'd eventually have to ask it herself, let alone the conditions of the asking.

"A city in my country called Saus," Rose answered, noting the way the other woman stared out the observation window; most likely she'd never been on an airship before. "It's our port of entry for international travel. Our capital, Emerylon, is too far inland to be convenient for that." (Who am I kidding? she thought. That might be true as regards ships and airships, but you can put a warp gate anywhere. Our reasons for not allowing one in Emerylon were xenophobia, plain and simple. I'm not ready to go into that with her, though.)

"I see," Therese said. "Will we make it there before dark? We don't have many hours of daylight left."

That was a curiously naive question. She doesn't seem to know much about geography beyond what's immediately familiar to her. "No," Rose answered. "In fact, we'll be traveling overnight, and for much of tomorrow as well. Which reminds me, the captain apologizes for the accommodations. Space is always at a premium on an airship, and it's worse now because of the people evacuated from Goriel." That was true; the large bunk area at the rear was crammed with people from the embassy and the few traders who'd been in town and had been unable to get onto the Rogeriel airship. And of course, there was also that one wardroom where a certain former head of mission was confined ... with armed guards inside and out. "Normally there aren't many women on a military airship, so you, Desiree and Anfisa will have to share a wardroom. It'll be a little congested. I hope that isn't too stressful for you all?" She didn't think it worth pointing out that she, herself, would not be in that wardroom; rank hath its privileges, and a small area reserved to herself was one of them ... herself and Argus.

Therese didn't think about her answer for more than a second or so, before an involuntary, mysterious smile played around her lips and she turned to look at the other two women. "I think we can manage..."
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 6

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"How do the elves keep their skin looking so smooth after two thousand years? I had an aunt who swore by milk and honey rubs, and there was a merchant who used to sell a cream he said was made from pearls, old Ilya's wife used to use it, but you could see it was just paint from twenty feet off. Only you couldn't talk about the wives like that. Irina had a traditional recipe..."

I let her ramble for a minute about skin care before answering. "Elves have a natural tendency to remain the same," I tell her. "Which is good for them, but can be bad for half-elves like me. See, certain healing magic works by changing the shape of a person's body slightly - to fix something that's wrong. Elves don't get sick the same way humans do, but half-elves do, which means that the same thing that keeps me younger longer also makes it hard to heal me if I'm sick." A slight simplification, but enough that she should be able to follow it even without a working knowledge of magical theory.

"Back home," I continue, "They know some tricks for dealing with those problems. I come from a village of half-elves. I can't say more right now, but it's hidden, and secret, because most elves don't like half-elves. Why... isn't important right now, but what is important - to me anyway - is that, in that village, I'm a priestess. I serve Anilis, the elven goddess of fertility, beauty, and love. One of my duties was to allow people to commune with the goddess - to provide a channel for them to her."

She gives me a blank look at that. "If a man or woman wished to be blessed by the goddess, he or she would come to the temple and make a donation. Then, if I was chosen, the man or woman would be brought to a chamber where I would make love with them while channeling Anilis. I gave you her blessing last night, so she could heal the wounds that Iokim left on your soul. Have you noticed that when we make love, you feel... safer, braver, more confident? That's the goddess, watching over us and giving us her blessing."

I'll let her absorb that for a moment. I'd like it if she got there on her own, but if I have to say it, I will. I just hope she says it first.

-- Desiree

OOC: Drusia... naw, I don't think she's going to have a heart-to-heart with Desiree just now. Desiree is busy, and it's not like she needs to know about her father yet.
So yeah, bring on the new thread. Drusia is ready to head off with Tamina and Udo.

Edit OOC: Oh, and I'm not sure when this conversation is exactly happening in relation to the airship conversation. It started before (on the ground) so we might be a tad behind. Or it could he happening in some private corner of the Airship - so long as it's private enough to speak, it doesn't matter.
As to the sharing of a room - that will be interesting. Very interesting. ;)
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Re: Goriel and beyond, part 6

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[OOC: OK for the Desiree/Anfisa exchange to be happening in either place, whichever you prefer. If the answer is on the ground pre-departure, we'll just make it so. Meanwhile:]

"So what happens when we get to this Saus?" Therese asked.

I wish I knew for sure, thought Sister Rose, and I'm not sure I like many of the possibilities. However, a few things seemed clear. "I'll have to report to my superiors in the church and military, on what happened here. They may want me to go to the main temple in Emerylon, which also functions as our national seat of government. I hope not. That's a trip I never look forward to -- long and tiring." This didn't seem like the time to explain to Therese about the differences between Orthodox and Reformed Veracian Churches, nor about the politics that infested the Pleasure Dome like rats.

"Will we all be joining you if you go there?" Therese persisted. "Your descriptions make it sound like an unpleasant place."

"I don't know," Rose answered. "We'll have to play that by ear." Then she had a thought, and she squeezed Argus' hand. "I hope that you, at least, will join me. Maybe while I'm getting grilled by the Patriarch's people, you can work on setting up a visiting professorship at Emerylon University -- my lord husband." She smiled and winked, and Therese decided to go check on accommodations, leaving "Lord and Lady Cleiviein" some rare privacy for a while.

Rose got serious as soon as the red-headed woman was gone. "I -- I don't know what they'll want to do when we get there, Argus. I don't think I'm in trouble, but they might have other assignments for me." She got a distasteful look on her face. "And they might give me heat about -- being with a Tsuirakuan while I do those assignments."

The look hardened, and her jaw acquired a stubborn set. "But I will tell you this, my lo-- lord husband. If they do give me a hard time about being with you -- well, screw 'em."
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